Across the glossy veneer: Ajoka blows horn in the dome of denial

ISLAMABAD: Ajoka Theatre on Sunday staged three plays titled ‘Hotel Mohenjodaro’, ‘Toba Tek Singh’, and ‘Shehre Afsos’ at National Art Galley (NAG) to mark its silver jubilee in collaboration with Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA). ‘Hotel Mohenjodaro’ was the first of three plays. It was based on a short story by legendary Urdu writer Ghulam Abbas. The play seems to be so close to the present-day ugly realities that it is hard to believe that a writer could have foretold it with such uncanny accuracy so long ago. The retrogressive and intolerant ideology of the religious fundamentalists, propagating an orthodox, rigid interpretation of Islam, the acquiescence of the establishment and the disastrous consequences of following the logic of a theocratic state are so evident now that the story doesn’t sound shocking or unbelievable. The mindset is the same: the same primitive thinking, the same deep-rooted prejudices, the same irrational worldview, and the same burning desire to destroy civilization. The total takeover by turban brigades of the story doesn’t seem unimaginable anymore. The havoc wrecked in the past few years in the name of jihad and Talibanisation is pushing us over the precipice and before we know it, we will be hurtling down into the abyss. The chilling end, as foretold, is coming.Adapted and directed by Shahid Nadeem, ‘Hotel Mohenjodaro’ conveyed the message that unfortunately, intellectuals and analysts of today are in the same state of absolute denial, not much different from the conservative writers and their cohorts of 1960s. They still want us to believe that the society doesn’t face any serious threat, the brain-washed and cold-blooded suicide killers have a legitimate grievance to rebel and a justifiable reason for the course of death and destruction they have adopted.